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What's most impressive is how guileless Dunckel and Godin make it sound. They're aiming for a kind of naïve beauty, and they hit it consistently here.
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It is beautiful, uplifting stuff.
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Most of these songs are melancholy and soft, waiting for a darkened sky to play to.
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The mood is lulling, narrative, and pictorial even when the lyrics disappear—all subtly melodic and gloriously smudged.
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Musically and thematically, this is some of Air's most elegant, mature music; it does what it does so compellingly that any attempts to be "poppy" would miss the point.
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Pocket Symphony most recalls their influential 1998 Moon Safari - only it sounds older and wiser.
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Pocket Symphony... contains more than its fair share of inspired moments.
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Not as poppy as either Moon Safari or Talkie Walkie, not as out there as 10,000khz Legend, Pocket Symphony instead boasts songs that deserve more attention than previous numbers without performing the prog histrionics often found on their more experimental works.
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FilterThis new Air CD bcomes their decade-in, it's-all-about-your-collaborations inevitability. Genuine fans will hardly be shocked that they pull it off with style and grace. [#24, p.89]
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Under The RadarSadness and longing aren't new to the Air universe, but never have we had so many downtrodden tracks on one release. [#16, p.89]
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BillboardIt introduces enough intriguing new elements (Japanese instruments, British guest vocalists) to earn its place in the Air canon. [10 Mar 2007]
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It isn’t life-changing, genre-defining, seizure-inducing, or any other clever hyphenated compounds, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, rewarding listen.
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Godin and Dunkel are peerless at conjuring a mood, and sonically this is typically impressive, but it needs more foreground, more focus.
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Pocket Symphony winds up feeling strangely transient, accomplished and genuinely likeable but also forgettable.
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Pocket Symphony is pleasant but not striking.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 32 out of 50
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Mixed: 15 out of 50
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Negative: 3 out of 50
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Oct 31, 2021
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RyanCApr 25, 2009Atmospheric, ethereal, and dreamy, Pocket Symphony makes up for its lack of pop appeal by perfecting the sound that Air is so famous for.
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Earth74Oct 6, 2008